JOURNAL

It's been two weeks since the start of the school year. It's my third year of teaching, and I can honestly say four things have brought me this far: Jesus, coffee, my husband, and lovely people who are smarter and more resilient than me.

With the start of my third year, some other things have decided to come in three's.

Okay, so not that many things came in three's, but I'm sure I'll think of more. Anyway, for those of you who have never been a teacher, I thought it would be fun do a quick list of things that might happen at the start of any school year.

For those of you who are teachers, feel free to add your own start-of-the-year-happenings in the comments! Funny, weird, profound--I want to hear it all!

The first day goes swimmingly, and you wonder, Are these kids getting progressively nicer? Am I getting progressively better? Am I just drinking progressively more coffee?

Your students point out your armpit sweat, and laugh at you when you raise your arms, and you wonder, Are they getting progressively worse each year? Is there really a true "anti-perspirant" out there anyway?

You are invited to MULTIPLE prayer groups led by teachers, and you wonder, Is this the year light will squash every corner of darkness in this building?

Your students say, "Yes ma'am, no ma'am, and thank you" even when you are handing out an assignment. They also jump up to get YOU--the teacher--water if you need it. You start to wonder, Is this The Twilight Zone? while simultaneously whisper-thanking all the respect-teaching parents out there. We love you. Sincerely, ALL TEACHERS.

Your students are impressed by your knowledge of basketball during a conversation about Lebron and Kobe, and you think, Please don't ask me any other questions. These are literally the only two basketball players I know.

You travel to NM on the first Thursday of the school year, and you spend your brother's entire wedding weekend running on caffeine, and a heavy case of FOMO (fear of missing out). It's amazing, beautiful, heart-wrenching. Then you return to Week Two that is still running full force despite your frequent requests that it would JUST SLOW THE BLEEP DOWN ALREADY. (In case you filled that "bleep" in with some vulgar, my bleeps are usually PG-13, at the very most.)

Okay, so that last one was probably just me. Nevertheless, real life during the first few weeks of the school year includes a whole lot of crazy, never catching up, and the chance to make small connections with the potential world-changers you get to have in your classroom this year. Don't squander it, buy some new concealer, and keep your snacks readily-accessible.

OH, and it's already September!!! HOLLA FOR BIRTHDAY MONTH!! September 29th, people. I take gifts of all kinds.